Medication is frequently stored in a capsule and administered to a subject who swallows the capsule. The medication passes through the intestinal wall and enters the blood of the subject.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,287,902 to Gross, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an ingestible capsule for delivering medication to a subject. A capsule coating dissolves in a gastrointestinal tract of the subject. An inner core of the capsule has an outer surface associated therewith. The outer surface is disposed within the coating and expands when the coating dissolves. A medication is disposed on the outer surface, and the outer surface is configured such that the medication contacts an intestinal wall of the subject when the outer surface expands.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,492,396 to Gross, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an ingestible pill includes a coating configured to dissolve in a small intestine; a core, which includes a medication-delivery element, which (a) has a compressed shape when disposed within the coating, and (b) is configured to assume, after the coating dissolves, an expanded shape; a medication; and a mucoadhesive. When unconstrained in the expanded shape, the medication-delivery element (a) is shaped so as to define first and second surfaces on opposite sides of the medication-delivery element, which have respective outer perimeters, which surround respective spaces of the respective surfaces, which spaces have respective greatest dimensions equal to between 2 and 10 cm, and each of which spaces has an area equal to at least 50% of the square of the greatest dimension; and (b) has an average thickness between the first and the second surfaces of less than 6 mm. Each of the medication and the mucoadhesive at least partially coats the first surface.